Word to the Wise
Tuesday, January 19, 2021 - Tuesday in the 2nd Week in Ordinary Time
[Heb 6:10-20 and Mark 2:23-28]God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love you have demonstrated for his name by having served and continuing to serve the holy ones. We earnestly desire each of you to demonstrate the same eagerness for the fulfillment of hope until the end, so that you may ot become sluggish, but imitators of those who, through faith and patience, are inheriting the promises. [Hebrews]
This passage from Hebrews (in my humble opinion) is one of the most encouraging statements in the whole New Testament. It is the best reply to a good parishioner who feels worn out by the effort to live Christian life faithfully in his or her given circumstances, especially in the face of the challenges that our secular culture poses to everyday moral and spiritual life. I have in mind, especially, the wonderful women who contribute to the online blog for Catholic moms, MIGHTY IS HER CALL, but also I have known so many students and older parishioners who have felt that God has forgotten them and all that they have tried to do to be faithful. The expression, "burnt out," comes close to describing these unsung (or even better known) folks.
I like to tell them the story of one of my Dominican brothers whom I knew in my own home town because Dominicans were serving very small mission churches in the rural area of North Louisiana where Catholics were very scarce. He came to visit our House of Studies in Chicago when I was in formation there. I asked him what kept him going in circumstances where he could not count on seeing growth or big results. He said to me, "You have to remember that you're only going to do a limited amount of good. The important thing is to do that limited amount!" That lesson has served me well in pastoral life and Dominican life! God will remember. AMEN.